Mining began here in 1859 during the Colorado Gold Rush and became an economic mainstay leading to statehood.īack then, few rules applied in a free-for-all scramble for gold.Īnd hulking gray heaps of mining waste have loomed here for decades across hundreds of acres in South Park, along with scars in delicate tundra on surrounding snow-frosted mountains. It is a quandary - 14,271-foot Quandary Peak rises above Alma - reflecting intensifying struggles of communities around the Rocky Mountain West to define their own future.

And leaders here see potential if rules are enforced and “reclamation” to restore landscapes finally gets done. Mining serves as a counterbalance against a tourism and visitation economy that is transforming western Colorado in a way that makes housing unaffordable.

These add up to toughening regulatory conditions.īut leaders in Alma and neighboring Fairplay, unlike counterparts in towns that turned into pricey resorts, remain relatively receptive to mining - as long as it doesn’t destroy nature. The federal Clean Water Act prohibits pollution without permits that specify contaminants and become increasingly restrictive.Ĭolorado lawmakers separately have passed a rule that requires greater efforts to prevent long-term degradation of water before a new mine can open. Supreme Court decision that seepage from industrial waste ponds into alluvial groundwater can be “the functional equivalent” of surface discharges directly into rivers. It is the first federal court case to apply a 2020 U.S. District Court ruling in Denver last month declares miners must go through a public process and obtain permits before discharging pollutants into waste ponds located near waterways. They won a ruling that tilts the nation’s legal landscape in favor of controlling water pollution. And, after a seven-year fight that led to federal court, they recently prevailed.

Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close MenuĪLMA - Colorado mountain residents got so frustrated by the gold and gravel mining churning through wetlands along headwaters of the South Platte River they took oversight into their own hands.

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